Parental
by millertime1985
Summary: The events leading up to, and following the birth of their Baby. "Shit. Nell's gonna kill me" Callen exclaimed, as he covered his face with his hands. "What way is it to your mortuary?" Sam asked. Sequel to: Count your Blessings. 10th in my Sacrifice series
1. Pre Birth

Notes: Thanks for taking the time to look over my story.

This is the latest of my stories based in my "Sacrifice" series, and is planned to be the last of my stories in this 'Series'

I hope you enjoy it.

I do NOT own NCIS:Los Angeles or any of its Characters. I'm just borrowing them

* * *

><p><strong><span>January<span>**

"Tell me he's okay, Sam?"

"When I know something, believe me, you'll be the first one I tell, Nell!" Sam almost shouted into the phone.

….

"Is he gonna be Okay, Doc?"

"He should be. He was very lucky not to suffer any broken bones" the A&E doctor explained

"So, you don't need to admit me?"

"No. Nothing medically wrong with you that would require you be kept in"

"Shit. Nell's gonna kill me" Callen exclaimed, as he covered his face with his hands

"What way is it to your mortuary?" Sam asked, jokingly

….

Callen stood outside his own front door, trying to will himself to open the door.

Sam was still parked at the kerb, waiting to see what would happen….

After a few minutes, Callen slid his key into the lock, and turned it.. pushing the door open. He wished he had something he could use to shield himself from Nell's fury

"Nell? You home?" He looked around the lounge, before deciding to retreat while he could still walk "No? Okay. I'm gonna nip out for a few minutes…. Or hours" he added, before slowly stepping backwards through the open door

"You're not going anywhere!" Nell barked, as she appeared from the bathroom

Callen turned to look to Sam for support, only to find him cracking up at seeing his friend so terrified of his wife

'I'll get you back for that' Callen thought to himself, as he watched Sam pull away from the kerb.

"Get in here!"

….

"Are you injured?"

"Just a few cuts and bruises. Otherwise, I'm a picture of perfect health"

"Good" Nell replied, before she started hitting Callen's chest with her balled up fists "Do you have a death wish or something?"

"What was I meant to do, Nell? Cooper was in that building, and there was no indication that anyone had booby trapped the place"

"Do you not realise what could have happened?, or do you just not care?"

"Of course I care. Of course I realise what could have happened. But I can't expect another Agent to risk their life for me, if I'm not prepared to do the same for them"

"I'm not sleeping with you tonight. You can sleep in the spare room" Nell replied before she stormed off to bed

Callen knew better than to argue with her when she was in that sort of mood

….

Laying back on the bed, Callen lay there, unable to sleep, staring at the ceiling, analysing everything from the day, and each decision he had made.

Had he made a grievous error by going into the building?, not retreating when he found out that the building had been booby trapped?.

He realised how worried and upset Nell would have been feeling watching and listening to everything that was going on, cooped up in OPS.

Thing was though, he didn't regret what he had done… at least as far as running into the building was concerned. He would have done the same for any Agent, and had thought that Nell knew that that was the sort of man that he was. If he had left Cooper tied up in the building, would he still be the man that she had fallen in love with?.

Would she have looked at, or treated him, differently?

After Christmas, and everything that had happened… he was glad that Nell had decided to request reassignment from the field to OPS. If she hadn't brought it up, he would have, because there was no way he would have been able to sleep, or even function anywhere near normal, if he knew that she was still working in the field, at risk of being shot, stabbed, poisoned, blown up or any other unpleasant things, while she was pregnant with his child.

….

Callen had last looked at his watch at some time just before 2am. He had still been unable to get even a wink of sleep. He didn't know if it was because he wasn't sleeping in his usual bed, if it was because Nell wasn't with him, or if it was because they had gone to bed with Nell angry with him. Hell, maybe it was just that he didn't need any sleep, although he doubted that, since he had been yawning for hours.

Sometime later, he was distracted by hearing the floor in the hallway creak… Nell must have gotten up to use the toilet, he thought. A few minutes later he heard the toilet flush, and waited to hear the floor creak again as she returned to their room. Only the creak never came. Instead, the door to the room he was sleeping in, opened with a slight squeak, (He really had to oil the hinges, he thought to himself) and in shuffled Nell, closing the door behind her.

He didn't even look towards her; instead he just lifted the quilt to allow her to slip in beside him.

"This doesn't mean you're forgiven" she whispered

"I know" he replied, as she snuggled up beside him

….

It was Saturday, so they didn't have to go into work. But Callen still found himself awake earlier than he needed to be.

Over the last few weeks, he had been reading articles online about pregnancy… about what Nell could and shouldn't be eating or drinking, what changes they should expect. He assumed that Nell may have known some of the stuff already, since she had mentioned friends that had been pregnant, so he hadn't mentioned what he had been reading. Where as, he had just read it so that he had a better understanding of the whole process.

Since Nell was still asleep, he slipped out of bed and got dressed, so that he could nip out to grab a few things from the market and a local pharmacy.

When he returned home, Nell still hadn't surfaced from bed… So he put away his shopping and decided to start cooking breakfast. Not that he expected cooking her breakfast would make her forgive him.

….

"Morning" he said quietly, just after leaning over to place a kiss on her forehead, putting the mug of tea on the bedside table.

"What time is it?" Nell said, softly, still sounding half asleep

"Just coming up for 10am. I've made breakfast, if you want to get up… or I can bring it through to you?"

"I'm coming" she groaned

He left her to get up in her own time, returning to the kitchen to serve the breakfast.

"What are you using to try and buy my forgiveness?" she mumbled as she shuffled into the kitchen, still in her pyjamas.

"I'm not trying to buy your forgiveness. But I did cook flapjacks, fried eggs, sausages and some bacon. And then you have a couple of supplements to take"

"Bah. And what's that stuff you left by the bed?"

"Tea"

"That wasn't tea"

"It's Lemon tea. No caffeine, so it's better for you and for the baby"

"I am allowed to drink coffee you know"

"Just drink it, and eat up. Then you can go back to tearing me a new one"

….

**March**

"…and would you like to know the sex?"

"Yes!" Callen replied, far too quickly

"No. **We** do not" Nell instructed

"This is quite normal. We can only tell 'Grandpa' if you like…

"He's my husband, not my father" Nell quickly jumped to defend Callen, shooting daggers at the Doctor with her eyes, before adding "…and Neither of us wants to know the sex. We're gonna wait, be surprised"

….

"Mind telling me why I can't know if we're having a boy or a girl?"

"Does it really matter? Will you love whichever we have any less, if you have to wait another 6 months to find out?"

"Of course not. I just…" Callen paused, trying to find the right words

"Just what?"

"What I tell you goes no further. Deal?"

"Deal"

Callen continued looking at Nell, unconvinced

"I promise. I won't tell anyone" Nell added

"I'm terrified that we'll have a girl. Not for any reason other than… I know what guys of certain ages want from women, and as much fun as I'm sure it would be to terrify potential boyfriends, I would probably get locked up for what I would do to any boy who would touch my daughter"

"…and if we had a boy, he wouldn't need the same 'protection' ?. G, Whichever we have… will be graced with a very loving father. Now let me ask you an unrelated question. Why did you not react when 'she' referred to you as grandfather?"

"Honestly. I came to grips with the what most people would think when they see a beautiful young woman like you, with a middle aged guy like me, a long time ago. All that matters is what we both think and feel about each other, not what some stranger thinks" Callen explained, after reaching down to hold onto Nell's hand

….

**April**

"I just spoke with my mom"

"I bet that was a delight" Callen replied, not even bothering to look up from his laptop

"She's been thinking about everything, and has decided that she's going to come stay with us, to help after the baby's born"

This grabbed Callen's attention. His eyes shot up from the laptop screen to look at Nell, trying to work out if she was being serious

"What are you punishing me for this time?"

"Did you hear me say that **I want** her to stay with us?, 'cause I don't think I could cope with her being here for more than a few days"

….

"You know, you don't have to keep working. I bring home more than enough 'bacon', and between us, we have more than enough set aside to cover any eventuality, for the next few years"

"and what am I meant to do every day, while you're out there getting shot at?. At least at work, I can keep an eye on you, and watch your back, even if it's only over security cams"

"We don't want you or the baby being stressed, and you being at work would stress you, especially after you've spent a few years as a field agent, only to be forced to be tied to a desk again"

"Say I decide to stay home… do you really think I won't be getting stressed out anyway, not knowing what could be happening to you. At work, I can be useful to you, and retain my sanity"

….

He had tried to get to sleep, he had tried to switch off his brain… but he hadn't been able to. Instead he slowly and silently slid out of the bed and walked through to the lounge.

He found that he had been sleeping less and less over the past few weeks.

Not that he slept a great deal, most of the time anyway.

Turning the TV on, Callen inserted a disc into the Blu-ray player and sat down on the couch.

For the next hour, he sat and watched the ultrasound video, restarting it each time it reached the end of the clip. In a matter of months he would be a father, and while he was delighted, he was also terrified to an extent that he had never experienced at any point in his life to date. He could face up to terrorists, drug dealers, and even Henrietta Lange… yet he was more terrified of the tiny person growing in his wife's belly.

"You planning on coming back to bed?" he heard Nell ask from behind him

"Yeah, I was just thinking. I just need a minute and I'll be back in"

….

**Early June**

Callen had been working undercover for over a month, trying to take down a private militia, and hadn't been in direct contact with anyone back at OSP. That wasn't to say that he hadn't had any contact. Before he started working on the assignment, Nell had set up a protocol, so that he could receive pre-programmed text messages through his phone, that to anyone other than Nell and Himself, would just look like a standard text message sent by the cell network.

After a few weeks of showing up to a diner, saying the write things, and managing to 'procure' weapons and vehicles, Callen had managed to get close to the Militia leader, and started to cement his position, before starting to feed information back to NCIS and the ATF.

….

"You wanted to see me, Del?"

"I did. I need you to take care of something for me"

"Whatever you need. Ask, and I'll see it done" Callen replied, hoping that this request would give them enough leverage to take down Del and his militia, so that Callen could go home

Dave, Del's right hand man, eyed Callen suspiciously.

"I want you to take some of that C4 that you procured, along with the five men that are waiting outside, and blow the door off of the bank vault down in Lake Tamarisk, and bring back the contents of locker 56G. Think you can manage that?"

"I'm sure we can manage that" Callen assured Del

….

"What do you mean you didn't get it? I ask for one simple thing, and you can't manage that, even with five of my best men"

"Gary planted the C4… he used too much, the whole bank just about collapsed…" Callen started explaining, before being interrupted by his phone bleeping with a message received tone

Callen immediately pulled out his phone, and focused on it, ignoring both Del and Dave

###

Valued Customer,

We would like to make you aware of our new product

Contact your local Sales Rep for more information

###

Callen knew what that meant… and it wasn't good

"Hey. Focus you useless fuck wit. You wanted in this army, but you can't complete even the simplest of tasks" Del Shouted over his desk

"Well, I don't want to be here now… I've got better places to be" Callen replied as he turned to leave, only to be stopped by Dave getting between Callen and the exit,

"Where d'you think you're goin. The boss is talking at you"

"You want to get out my way before I make you regret getting in it" Callen said, the anger starting to build in his chest

"Don't think I'll be doing that. Not for the likes of you"

Callen looked Dave in the eye, before pulling his Beretta out and shooting Dave's left foot without so much as a second thought, before balling his other hand into a fist and throwing it into Dave's gut

Callen watched as the larger man fall to the floor, squealing in agony.

Callen stepped over Dave's body and walked out of the building, hearing Dell shouting for any of his 'troops' to stop Guy (Callen)

Callen soon had half a dozen well built men blocking his way from the buildings out to the motor pool

"You lot don't want to try and stop me from leaving. I've got better things to do today than kill the lot of you"

A few of the men looked to one another to see who would react first

"Okay, you want to play that way. Fine by me" Callen added, before swinging a fist at one of the men in his way, while simultaneously sweeping one of his legs to knock one of the other men off balance, before pulling his handgun out again and firing a round into two of the other men's guts

….

By the time Callen had fought his way through the remaining 'troops' be was bruised and bleeding, but was in a better condition than the men that got in his way. Before hopping in the first car he could reach, Callen made a point to walk by the armoury, grab a pair of grenades, unpinned them and threw them back into the armoury to destroy what weapons, explosive and grenades were left.

Pulling out his phone as he pulled out of the yard and onto the highway he quickly dialled a number from memory

"Eric. Get whoever you can out to the militia's operating base… they could probably use the fire department, several paramedics and local PD should probably be there"

Before Eric could say a single word, Callen ended the call and quickly dialled another number from memory

….

Callen pulled up outside the hospital and abandoned the car, rushing inside… ignoring the security guards and their comments that he couldn't leave his car there.

The security guard that had followed him up to the maternity unit, and had started to make threats to phone the police. To this Callen pulled out his empty Beretta, tossed it to the guard and told him to do his worst, and that he was a federal agent.

This was helped by the convenient arrival of Sam, who backed up Callen's statement about him being a federal agent

Finding Kensi and Deeks sat in a waiting area Callen turned his attention to the female agent, looking for details about why Nell had been brought to maternity when she wasn't due to give birth for at least another 7 weeks

….

After changing into clean clothing, Callen was guided into the birthing suite where Nell was… He was excited to be there, but also full of trepidation over the fact that she had been rushed here far sooner than expected

Nell was flushed, and looked to be sweating profusely, which he should have known to be expecting. But despite that, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

As soon as he was close enough, he reached out to grab her hand, trying to show his support for what she was going through

"Your father's here, to support you" one of the nurses said, speaking to Nell

"I'm not her father. I'm her husband. Where's Doctor Mills? Why's she not here?" Callen interjected, as he scowled at the nurse

"She's on vacation at the moment. I'm Doctor Logan, I'm filling in for her"

Callen turned his attention back to Nell

….

Less than 20 minutes later Sam, Kensi and Deeks watched as the doctor, and a pair of nurses rushed out of the room, pushing a trolley.

Callen followed them out of the suite and walked over to his friends, who all started to rise from their seats waiting expectantly for news

"It's a girl. Amazingly, she can breathe, but they've taken her to the Neonatal critical care unit anyway" Callen explained to his friends before going back into the suite to be by Nell's side

….

"You okay, man?" Sam asked, as Callen collapsed down on the seat beside his friend and ex partner

"I don't know. I mean I'm physically fine… I just can't help feeling … out of sync with my body"

"I'm sure it's just the shock of everything that mixing you up a bit. So come on… now that you know it's a girl, what are you naming her?"


	2. Post Birth

I still have a couple more short chapters to post, set at various points over the youth of their daughter, that i'll post over the coming weeks

* * *

><p>Over the next few days, Callen and Nell hardly left the hospital. When they did, it was only to wash or to grab a change of clothes. Every other minute was spent at the hospital, watching over their baby girl.<p>

Thankfully, since she could breathe on her own, they were able to hold her, even if initially only within the neonatal unit. She was so small that Callen was afraid to hold her, worried that he would break her.

The Doctors and Nurses would regularly check on the baby, making sure she was healthy and still able to breathe on her own before they would even consider letting her be taken home.

One reason that Callen was particularly glad that the baby was still be kept in the hospital was, that he was still looking more than a little beaten up after his encounter with the militia members, this meant that he had time for cuts to heal, and swelling to go down before they would have to even consider the first photo with them both and the baby, for family that had been unable to visit the hospital.

….

It was more than a week before they were allowed to bring the baby home, and when they did, they noticed a number of their neighbour's curtains twitching as if they were being watched.

Unsurprisingly they had received visitors almost continually from the night that they brought her home.

"She's so tiny" Kensi remarked, as she watched Nell lift the baby from her crib

"She's perfect, right?" Nell replied, before handing the baby over to Kensi, before adding "Clara, this is your Aunt Kensi"

Tears started to build up in Kensi's eyes, after hearing Nell refer to her as Clara's aunt

….

"There's something we would like to ask you before you head home…" Callen started asking Kensi

"…We've been thinking about this, and have decided that we'd like to ask you to be her god mother?" Nell finished

"Are you guys serious?" Kensi asked, stunned

Both Nell and Callen simply nodded to confirm that they were indeed serious

"Of course!. I'd be honoured" Kensi managed to force out, before walking over and pulling her friends into a three way hug

….

Neither Callen or Nell had been able to get much sleep since baby Clara had come home. Not because she was awake, crying all night long… the opposite in fact… she was a text book baby, she stayed quiet, almost too quiet. It was because of her peacefulness, that the new parents had been unable to sleep… they had been terrified, worrying that she may have died.

After the first few nights, Callen had convinced Nell to go to sleep, and he would stay awake and watch over her, he wouldn't have been getting much in the way of sleep anyway.

"You're scaring your mother. You've been scaring us both… you're just too quiet. Not that we want you to be up all night long, balling and crying. But at least way will give us a chance to get to know one another" Callen spoke to the baby as he carried her through to the lounge, and then sat down

"Just between the two of us, I never really thought that I'd be anyone's father. Then again, I never thought that I would ever get married…. Not for real. But your mother, she was something special… what am I saying? She **IS** something special. Once we got together, I kept waiting for her to come to her senses, and decide that she didn't want to be involved with a much older, broken guy like your old man."

Callen looked down at Clara, noticing her looking back at him, almost as if she was fascinated by what he had been saying, not that he actually believed that to be the case

"Last christmas, I had a bit of a scare after I was exposed to something at work, and afterwards, I didn't think that your mom and I, would ever be able to have a baby. I had been so sure that I wouldn't be a father, I hadn't stopped to realise that I actually wanted to be one. Your mom and I had never spoken about children, after all. When she told me that she was pregnant, with you… I… well, I almost started crying"

Clara started to gurgle

"I can't promise that I will always be here. But I do promise that you will always be safe, always be protected. If I have to, I would happily die to protect you and your mom"

Clara stared up at her father, starting to groan, as a precursor to crying. Callen saw this and lifted her from his lap, holding her tight and safe against his chest, just over his heart.

"Hey, hey. Come on now. I'm all but sure that your mother, and nana Hetty would kill me for saying that. But I will always protect you and your mom. **Always**!, no matter the cost"

….

**July**

"You can't keep bringing your baby into work. She's a distraction" Granger instructed Callen

"Well neither of us is prepared to leave her with a stranger, and since we are both needed here, Either Clara comes in with us, or one or both of us don't come in, Sir"

"Well, you're going to have to work something out, because this can't continue"

….

"What about my mother?"

"What happened to you not being able to cope with her being here for more than a few days?"

"Well what's the alternative, one of us stops working?"

"That would be preferable to your mother living here. Besides, we don't have a spare bedroom anymore, and I doubt she would be willing to sleep on the couch" Callen pointed out

….

"Let me see my granddaughter." Were the first words uttered by Madeline Jones as the front door was opened to her.

"It never hurts to say 'please' or even 'hello', mom" Nell replied, as she waved her mom inside, and walked through to the nursery from the lounge, leaving Callen to bring in his mother-in-law's luggage, momentarily distracted by one of their younger neighbours waving as she walked along the sidewalk.

Afterwards he returned to his chair, turning his attention back to his russian newspaper, and trying not to allow his mother-in-law's mere presence unduly irritate him.

Returning to the lounge with Clara in tow, Nell gently placed the baby into her mothers waiting arms.

Clara was far from happy at being handed over to the 'stranger', and started to cry and scream

"Give her back to me, I'll get her settled" Nell suggested.

"I did raise you and your sister, so I'm sure I can handle one upset baby" Madeline snapped, which upset Clara even more

Callen couldn't, or rather wouldn't, sit back and listen to his daughter screaming, just to let his mother-in-law try and prove a point. He stood up, walked over and leaned down to lift Clara from her grandmothers arms.

Clara immediately stopped crying and screaming, like a switch had just been flipped, much to Madeline's displeasure

"I told you this was a bad idea!" Callen said, directing his comment to his wife, as he walked out of the lounge

….

"She's not happy. You know that, right!"

"She was upsetting Clara…" Callen replied, before Nell cut him off

"She had only just started holding her. Clara just didn't know who mom was. So you can't use that as an excuse"

"Okay. So what do we do? Let your mom keep holding her and upsetting her until what…?"

"Just… Give her a chance , G. Please?"

"Fine. But know, I'm not happy about it… and when Clara gets old enough to ask who thought it was a good idea to inflict your mother on her… I won't lie to her"

….

**October**

"Your Mom was great with your kids. Madeline is just… there isn't a nice word to describe how she is with Clara"

"She can't be that bad. After all, Nell turned out great" Sam replied

"Every time Clara starts crying, she just sits there with her, and bounces her on her knee. She's been doing the same thing for weeks… and if I say anything, or take Clara away from her, and carry her through to the Nursery, Nell eventually tries to 'tear me a new one' for not giving Madeline a chance"

"Are you giving her a chance though?"

….

Callen was midway from the office entrance to the bullpen, when he heard Hetty's voice boom from behind him

"Mr Callen. A word in my office, if you would"

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then turned round, opening his eyes as he did so, and followed the short, aging spy

"You wanted a word?" He managed to ask before sitting down opposite her

"I've been asked to enquire as to whether you have seen or heard from Mr Quinn, lately"

"What's this about, Hetty? You already know that I've not been in contact with him for nearly 10 years. Not since … well, since that last incident"

"I was obliged to ask. I'm sure I don't need to remind you to advise me if he does make contact with you"

"No, you don't"

….

"I'm at the Market, on my way home. Do you need, or want me to pick anything extra up?"

[…]

"I'll see if they have any. I'll be home soon"

Slipping the phone back into his pocket, Callen lifted a basket and started moving up and down the aisles of the store, lifting what they needed for home, or what he thought Nell may enjoy having for a treat.

He was just reaching the end of one aisle, when someone walked out in front of him. Someone he recognised

"Long time no see Cal."

"I'm not interested in anything you have to say Jake" Callen replied, as he pulled out his Cell, and started to dial Hetty

"Still doing the bidding of that poisoned dwarf, I see"

"You want to be careful what you say. Your record is far from spotless, and unlike you, Hetty has made up for her actions"

"Whatever you need to tell yourself. I need you to do something for me before you make that call"

"Why would I want to do anything for you?"

"I was your training agent, so the way I see it, you owe me"

"You may have started training me, but you didn't finish the job. So, you want to try again?"

"How about the fact that I was this close to your daughter this afternoon, and I could have taken her, to make sure you would help me" Jake countered, as he got right up in Callen's face

This infuriated Callen. He dropped his basket and grabbed hold of his former mentor's jacket and slammed him into the shelving racks

"…I also find it interesting that you're shacked up with that girl, when you were quick to judge me for my own dalliances with younger women" Jake continued, ignoring the obvious anger on Callen's face

"You stay away from my family, or I swear, there is no person or authority that will stop me from putting a bullet in your skull" Callen growled "I wasn't your only student, so why'd you come to me for help"

"That's easy. You're the only one still in the game"

"That may be, but it doesn't mean I have to accommodate your no doubt insane demands. You're wanted for questioning anyway" Callen replied, as he reach into his pocket and pulled out a set of cuffs, and quickly spun Jake round and cuffed his hands behind his back. Holding Jake in place, Callen pulled out his phone and made a call to request someone to pick up the ex CIA training agent, and hand him back to the CIA.

….

"Hi Mr Callen"

Callen turned away from the LAPD officers that he had collected Jacob Quinn from Callen, to face one of his neighbours

"Jess, Right?" Callen asked, trying to remember the young woman's name

"I was wondering if you could help me? I've got a flat tyre and can't get the wheel to come off. I was going to ask inside if I could use their phone to call AAA, but I remembered that I don't have my card with me. Could you maybe help me out?"

There was something about the young woman that unsettled Callen, beyond the blog posts she had made several years ago, but it was getting on in the evening, and the alternative would be to give the young woman a lift home

….

"See, it's really not that hard to change a wheel" Callen explained, as he tightened the wheel nuts

"Thanks for showing me Mr Callen. Could I maybe do something to pay you back? Take you for a coffee or maybe some pie?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I've had a long day, and just want to get home and see my wife and kid. But thanks for the offer"

"You know, I could dye my hair so I look like your wife. Then you could come home with me"

Callen quickly turned to face the young woman, to verify to himself that she obviously wasn't all that stable.

"Your wheel's changed, so I can get on my way" Callen replied, and quickly got up on his feet so he could get back into his own car and as far away from the young woman, as quickly as he could.

"At least, let me give you something for changing my wheel" Callen heard her offer, as he walked back over to his car

The next thing he knew, he was in agony as something was roughly forced into his side.

He fell to the ground and reached to his side to feel what had happened, only to feel a steady flow of blood from what seemed to be a knife wound.

"If I can't have you, then she can't have you either" Jess replied as she crouched down next to Callen and reach into his jacket pocket to fish out his phone, which she then turned off and tossed away before she got into her own car and sped off

….

"It shouldn't be taking him so long to get home. He said he was already at the market"

"He could be…" Madeline began, before Nell cut her off

"If the next sentence out of your mouth in any disparaging about G, you can gather your belongings and go back home. I won't have you bad mouth him again, especially not in front of Clara"

….

[…]

"Right. Let me know if you hear from him though?"

[…]

"Thanks Sam"

Nell had called anyone and everyone who may have seen or spoken to Callen since he left work. But no one had seen or spoken to him.

….

Hearing someone knock the front door, Nell rushed to the front door, hoping that it may have been Callen, and he had simply lost his keys.

Opening the door, she was instead shocked to find a pair of LAPD officers

"Mrs Callen?" one of the officers asked

All Nell felt able to do was nod

….

Nell sat down in a trance. She had made two phone calls, the first to Sam, and the Second to Kensi.

She couldn't begin to process what she had been told.

It had been quite some time since she had to sit in a hospital waiting room, waiting for news about his condition.

She had Sam sat to her left, while Kensi and Deeks were to her right. She didn't even know how long she had been sat there.

"Nell? You want to grab a coffee?" Deeks asked, shaking her out of her trance

"No. I need to be here for when the doctor comes back with news"

"You can't sit here, never moving. Sam and I can be here, waiting, and you and Kens can go grab a cup of coffee…." Deeks replied, before Nell cut him off

"Can you stop pestering me and go do something useful. Go wait with my mother or liaise with LAPD and find out who did this, so I know who to put a knife into"

"You can't do that. You can't go kill someone for no good reason" Deeks replied

Nell jumped up on her feet, and moved to face Deeks

"You mean like someone did to G? Stabbed him, and left him for dead?"

"Marty's right." Kensi added "You can't make this personal"

"His gun was still in his holster, Kens. Whoever did this surprised **him**"

"That doesn't mean you can make plans to stab whoever stabbed him. Remember what I told you years ago, you can't let your need for vengeance take control of you, we need to catch the wrong doers, not kill them to take vengeance" Sam offered

"Are you saying that you don't want to hurt the person who stabbed G?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying. Yes I want to hurt them. But we're the good guys. We catch who did this, not just kill them"

"You can be the good guys, then. But me, as soon as the doctor tells me that he's stable… I'm going to find who did this, and they better hope that you get to them before I do"

….

"Your husband is out of danger. We've repaired the damage done as best we could, he will need to take it easy for a few months to allow his kidney to fully heal. But otherwise, he'll make a full recovery"

"Thank you. Can I see him?"

"You can, But not for long"

….

"I thought you were supposed to try and not end up in a hospital again" Nell said, speaking to the still unconscious Callen, as she sat down at his bedside and reached out for one of his hands

"Kensi's away to wait with Clara and my mother, Sam and Deeks are working with LAPD to find out who did this to you. It's probably better that they are looking for who did this, instead of me. I couldn't let whoever did this to you; get away with just a slap on the wrists or a few months of prison time, but I have to keep reminding myself that we have Clara, and I need to be here for her growing up, otherwise I'd get locked up for what I'd do to whoever did this. You listen to me… I need you to get better and wake up. I don't want Clara growing up without knowing you"

….

The following morning Nell had returned to the hospital, once again leaving Clara with her mother, since she didn't feel that it was an ideal situation for Clara to be in the hospital around her father, in his current condition

Nell had unintentionally slipped off into sleep while sat by Callen's bedside, after not getting much sleep during the night, and was only awoken by the various noises from the medical equipment.

Opening her eyes she found Callen awake, and pulling off the numerous leads that the doctors and nurses had attached to him following his surgery

"G? What are you… **why** are you doing that?"

"Didn't mean to wake you" Callen replied through gritted teeth, as each movement caused him pain, even though he had been medicated to ease the pain "Can't stay here… Need to get home…Lock her up. You okay?" he added, taking a breath between each sentence

"First off, you have to stay here. Second, lock who up?. and finally… I was, I am terrified about you. You know I hate seeing you in a hospital bed"

"Then help me get these leads off, and get me home"

….

"She always seemed so friendly"

"Yeah, she was really friendly when she stuck that knife in my side, and left me for dead" Callen replied with a hiss as she slid into the car seat

….

"Oh my god. Is he okay?" Madeline asked her daughter as she saw her walk in the front door, helping Callen walk. Taking particular note of the hospital gown he was still wearing with a visible trace of blood where he had been stabbed "You should still be in the hospital"

"I'm fine. Just in a bit of pain"

"He doesn't like hospitals. Always signs him self out against medical advice" Nell explained

"Do you want a cup of tea or coffee?" Madeline asked, surprising Callen

"Coffee please, and a couple of Ibuprofen wouldn't go amiss, Maddie"

….

"We can't be involved in this. It's better if we let LAPD deal with her" Callen explained after Nell had helped him get changed into some loose, comfortable clothing

"You're kidding, right?" asked Nell

"Nell, if we take any active role in her capture, it could burn us. This didn't happen while I was working, so I was just a normal citizen. Better we stay as far out of it as possible. I know you're not happy about it, but this is how it has to be"

….

A few hours later, Callen and Nell watched from the lounge window as LAPD showed up and arrested Jess for attempted murder.

She had been short sighted, having both left the knife, which was covered in her finger prints, and her finger prints being all over Callen's phone. Both factors, along with Callen's statement, helped the D.A. get a conviction. Although after a psychological assessment, she was transferred to a specialist facility to receive treatment prior to being transferred to a prison to serve the remainder of her sentence.

….

**4 Weeks Later**

Having both sat down, Callen, still wincing slightly from his recent injuries, began actually saying his thoughts aloud.

"I've been thinking about our child care situation. You know that I'm not your mother's biggest fan, and while I appreciate her helping us out for the last few months, we don't need her to watch Clara anymore" Callen began

"And what are we meant to do with Clara? Granger made it very clear that we can't take her back into the office, at least for anything other than a brief visit"

"Well we have someone who can watch her 24 hours a day. Someone who can feed her, change her, and protect her…"

"Okay, call me curious. Who?"

"Me. I've already spoken to Hetty, and let her know that I want to leave field work behind"

Nell looked at Callen, not believing what he had just said

"Very funny, G." Nell eventually replied

"I'm not joking. I'm deadly serious. I realised that I'm getting too old for this job. At least I am, if I want to live to see Clara grown up and leaving for College"

"But you love your job" Nell urged

"Yeah, I do. But I love you and Clara more" Callen explained


	3. Clara: Age 6

The first of the "Add on" one shots for this story, with at least 2x further one shot/chapters to come

* * *

><p><strong>Clara : Age 6<strong>

"Daddy, What's your job?"

"I take care of you and your mom. Why?" Callen asked, curious about the reason behind his daughter's question

"The teacher asked us what our Mummy and Daddy do for work. I said I didn't know what you do"

"I used to be a police man. That's how I met your mom. But when we had you, I gave up my job, to be here to raise you, and take care of both you and your mom"

Clara looked confused, and was quick to ask another question…

"But why?. My friend Sara has a Mummy and a Daddy that both have jobs"

"When your mom and I met, I was a lot older than her, and my job was dangerous… I sometimes would get hurt. One day I decided that I wanted to be here to see you grow up, and I was old enough that I could leave my job, where I worked with your Uncle Sam and Marty, Aunt Kensi and Nana Hetty. I made a choice to be here to take care of you, and let your mom keep working at something she is **really** good at" Callen tried explaining

"Why?"


	4. Clara: Age 13

The second of the "Add on" one shots for this story, with at least 1x further one shot/chapters to come

* * *

><p><strong>Clara : Age 13<strong>

"How was school Kiddo?" Callen asked as he heard Clara walk into the house and drop her bag

"Was okay" Clara replied "When'll mom be home?"

Callen knew his daughter well enough to know that from the tone of her voice, something was bothering her

"Won't be until at least 7pm. Something you want to talk about?"

"I just need to ask Mom something"

….

"Hey, your Dad said you wanted to talk to me" Nell asked as she closed the door to Clara's bedroom behind her "What's wrong?"

"We started swimming in P.E. The first time I've done swimming at school, the first time I've been swimming with people other than you or Dad"

"Okay?"

"I saw the boys without their tops on, and I noticed that none of them look like Dad does"

"Did that bother you?"

"No. It's not that I'm shy. It's…. None of the boys have marks like dad does"

"Ah. You know, your Dad has been worried about this conversation ever since you were born"

"I couldn't ask Dad about his marks…"

….

Callen turned his head when he heard footsteps coming from the bedrooms, and was pleased to find Clara following Nell

"G. Clara wants to ask about your scars" Nell said, sounding anxious

Clara looked very nervous, as she watched her dad for any sign that he wasn't prepared to discuss the subject

"Come on and sit down, and I'll tell you whatever you want to know. How about that?" Callen said, breaking the silence

….

"I'm not gonna lie to you. You remember when you were younger, you came home from school and asked what my job was, and I told you I used to be a police man. Well I didn't work for LAPD, like Uncle Marty used to, I was a federal agent… I worked an operation in Russia years ago, that several years later led to anyone involved, being killed… or at least attempted to be killed. I was lucky… although I was shot multiple times in the chest, and was in critical condition, I managed to survive…"

Callen could see Clara's eyes starting to well up with tears, and he reached out to her, pulling her into his arms to comfort her

"It's okay, baby girl. I'm okay… I'm here aren't I!"

Clara started trying to say something, but neither Callen nor Nell could understand what she had been attempting to say

"…My other scars come from other 'jobs', and the ones on my forearms were from when I was caught in a building that had collapsed. But I promise you, I'm fine. They don't hurt" he continued


	5. Clara: Age 17

**This is it, the last chapter for this series.  
>I have enjoyed writing it, and am pleased to know that many of you have enjoyed reading it.<br>Many thanks to everyone who posted a review or marked one as a favourite**

* * *

><p><strong>Clara : Age 17<strong>

"Don't tell me nothing's wrong. I know that something is wrong by how you are acting" Clara said, as she followed her father into her parent's bedroom

"I promise you, everything's gonna be okay" Callen replied as Clara watched him open a safe in the closet, and pull out a gun

"Everything's not okay. If it were, you wouldn't be holding a gun, and you wouldn't have called Hetty to come watch me. I'm old enough to know what's going on"

Callen turned round to look at the young woman, not sure what he was going to say to her. How could he tell her that her mother had been captured, along with another Agent.

He knew that Nell could handle almost anything that the job could throw at her, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't occasionally find herself in a bad situation that she couldn't get out of, on her own.

"You're right. You are old enough. That doesn't mean that I have to like it" he replied after tucking his gun into his waistband, and rooting through the closet for something else, something that she shouldn't have known about.

"If you're looking for your vest, Mom has it stashed away in her office"

Callen, following the direction from Clara, abandoned his search in the closet and left the bedroom, heading for Nell's office.

Clara followed her father, determined to say something

"You're not a young man anymore, dad…"

This earned her an angry glance from Callen

"…You're 65. You can't be running about with a gun shooting people who try and hurt me and mom"

"Clara, I love you, I really do… but there is no one, and nothing on this earth that will stop me trying to protect you and your mom, even if that puts me in danger" Callen explained

"Stop it. You know I don't like it when you talk like that, and neither does mom!"

Having found his vest, and put it on, Callen turned to face Clara, and placed his hands on the young woman's shoulders

"I know that. But I can't just sit back while one or both of you are in danger. I'm not made that way. Now stay here, and don't open the door to anyone other than Hetty or Sam" Callen finished saying, taking in what could be the last time he would see his daughter.

….

"Tell me what you know" Callen asked, talking into the phone while he concentrated on not crashing the car into any other vehicle

[…]

"Yes I'm well aware that you shouldn't be telling me anything. But you were the one that called and told me what was going on, Eric"

[…]

Callen briefly glanced into one of the car's mirrors, taking note of the car that had been a few cars behind him for far too long…

"I'm gonna call you right back" and then he ended the call

….

Having, at the last minute, cut off the main road onto the overpass, and then back down onto the main highway so that he was now positioned behind the car that had been following him for some time, Callen dialled a number on the phone, while flashing his headlights to attract the attention of the car's driver

"Thought I told you to stay at home"

[…]

"Yeah, I noticed. Pull over, now"

….

Callen put the hazard lights on the car on, and climbed out of the car and walked forward to the passenger side of the car that had been tailing him and opened the door to slide inside

"Who taught you to drive?" Callen asked, momentarily ignoring his irritation

"You did, remember. But Mom and Aunt Kensi gave me a few advanced lessons"

"They teach you anything else?"

"A few things. But I think it's probably better if I don't tell you, not yet at least" Clara responded, with her signature grin

"Game's over. I want you to go back home, and wait there"

"No way. Even if I turn round and drive away, how will you know I've gone home. How will you know that I'm not still following you, or trying to find Mom myself? I know enough about what you did, and what Mom does to know how to follow a lead, and I know more about computers than Mom or even uncle Eric, more than enough to enable me to hack the information from the NCIS Servers myself in the blink of an eye"

"You're too smart for your own good, you know that right?"

"I take after my parents. So yeah, I know"

….

"We know who you are… and who you're married to. All you need to do is tell us where to find **her**, and we'll let you and your colleague go free"

"I've no idea who you mean. Even if I did, what makes you think I'd tell **you**" Nell replied, as she struggled against the ropes holding her to the chair

"Because you should be smart enough to know that if we know who you are, and who you're married to… That we know you have a child that you would do anything to protect"

"Well, if you know who I'm married to…. you'll know you won't have long 'till he finds you"

….

If you had asked Callen what his opinion was, regards tracking romantic partners or family members almost 20 years earlier, he would have argued that it showed a lack of trust. Having been through more than a few situations since then, where he had ended up in trouble, or Nell had ended up in trouble. Callen couldn't disagree with the benefits of having an emergency back up, in place so that one of them knew where the other was. Nell had made sure when they both agreed to having an emergency tracker on each of them, to have the trackers use frequencies that were within bands that if detected wouldn't raise any red flags, but were secure enough that no one could accidentally stumble on the tracking information.

In this situation, having a tracker, letting him know exactly where she was, was nothing short of a god send.

While Eric had been the one to let Callen know that Nell had failed to check in, he could no longer rely on Agency assets or intel, now that Hetty had, for the final time, retired from OSP

….

"Offer still stands. Tell me where Henrietta Lange is, and you and your colleague can leave. I give you my word"

"You know, I'd love to know who you're working for" Nell asked, still refusing to 'bite'

"Your colleague doesn't have to be harmed. All you have to do to stop her suffering is to tell me what I want to know"

….

Callen followed the signal on his phone, while watching out for any sign of anyone holding any sort of weapon.

He knew that he didn't have to do this alone. He knew that all he would have to do would be pick up the phone and ask for help… but asking for help would mean following guidelines, or even worse, having to take a back seat.

Opening a door round the back of the building on the docks, Callen briefly peered inside, making sure that no one was waiting on the other side with a gun.

Finding no one inside, Callen slipped in through the door, making sure to softly close the door behind him.

He had been out of the field for years, yet he still instinctively remembered how to clear rooms and hallways, almost as if it had just been days. He may have been a little physically slower than he was the last time he worked in the field, but that didn't mean that he wasn't still capable.

He walked into a larger, poorly lit room with his SIG still drawn, onto to feel the cold metallic feel of a gun barrel against his neck

….

"Now maybe you'll tell me what I want to know" Nell was asked, as she saw Callen dragged into the room, with his hands tied behind his back while another man kept his gun trained on Callen

"You don't want to do that!" Nell forced out, panicking to see Callen there, with a gun aimed at him

"Tell me what I want to know, and you can all go free" the man with the german accent repeated yet again

Before Nell or Callen could say anything both the men turned, reacting to the noise of a door closing

The first man pulled out his own weapon, and instructed the second man to go see what caused the noise

But before he could get too far, a gun could be heard firing sending the second man lurching backwards, till he tripped and fell back onto the floor.

Less than 10 seconds later two further rounds were fired off into the first mans chest sending him falling back to the floor alongside his colleague

Callen and Nell both turned to look at where the shots had come from, with both of them surprised by who their rescuer was

….

"Okay. You and me, need to have words about what you and Kens have been doing with Clara, and why you never told me" Callen told Nell, as soon as Clara had cut his hands free

"…and you and I are going to have words about where you found that gun, and why you didn't do what I told you" he added, as he faced Clara, while cutting Nell's hands free

….

"How long?" Callen asked while they waited in the interview room

"Since I was 15." Clara replied, as she sat down next to her father " Aunt Kensi took me. Said I should know how to protect myself. Mom wasn't happy when she found out. But she eventually agreed to teach me properly. You didn't really think Mom and I used to go shopping every Saturday, but never came back with anything did you?"

"And the gun?, Where did you get it?"

"It was your back up piece. I know where you hide it in the car"

"You've got an answer for everything, don't you!. Do you realise the seriousness of what happened? They could have handed you over to LAPD for committing murder"

"I knew the risk… I couldn't just sit back and wait to see what would happen. You and Mom could have been killed, and then what would happen to me?"

"Hey, listen to me for a second. IF anything happened to your Mom and I, you would be well provided for and taken care of. We made sure of that when you were born. And I know I haven't said it, but I'm very impressed and proud of the way you handled yourself and the gun, but that was not a situation that I ever wanted for you to experience"

"I know you didn't. But like you said earlier, I couldn't sit back and do nothing while one or both of you were in danger"

….

_Officially_ Callen took the blame for shooting his and Nell's captors, which was helped by his still being viewed as an NCIS asset.

Clara returned to University a few weeks later to continue her studies. She excelled thanks to her vast intelligence, something that she had inherited from her mother and father

In the end, she graduated from university a year earlier than anyone else, before returning home and applying for a job with NCIS, following in her parent's foot steps.

Something that Callen was proud of, but was still concerned for her safety as any father would be.

Nell retired a few months after Clara's graduation, happy to be able to spend more time with her husband, and proud to see her daughter enjoying what she was doing with her life

Callen spent the rest of his days with Nell, travelling around the world, seeing sights that had escaped his notice when he had previously visited on operations, returning home every few months to spend time with Clara, and the rest of his 'family'.


End file.
